The key question for the Nuggets in the NBA draft Thursday: Is a guaranteed three-year contract for $2.8 million — $899,000 in the first season — worth it?

That's what the 27th pick in the draft will cost the Nuggets, should they select a player in that slot. And would that player even play?

The short answer to those questions is no, and the Nuggets are expected to try to trade out of the first round. But there are complications in doing so. They aren't the only team drafting late in the first round looking to make a move out of it. If those teams can't find a suitor, the Nuggets would have to make that selection.

In need of a shooter, the Nuggets could get one in the draft. Among the possibilities: California's Allen Crabbe, Providence's Ricky Ledo and Glen Rice Jr., who played in the D-League last season after problems at Georgia Tech got him dismissed from the team.

Erick Green, the nation's leading scorer last season at Virginia Tech, also is a possible Denver draft pick. He had a good workout for the Nuggets and could be a needed No. 3 point guard if he were selected. The Nuggets also could fortify their frontcourt in the draft.

"It's tough," said draft analyst Chad Ford of ESPN. "The whole franchise was gutted, and they have a brand new general manager walking in and they've just hired a new coach. ... So they're a little bit behind the 8-ball when it comes to prepping for the draft and what they need.

"If that's the case, you take the best player available. The one good thing about (new Nuggets general manager) Tim Connelly was that he was a scout and he was out on the road, and he scouted all these players, and he knows them well. So he at least isn't someone who's flying completely blind when he goes in there. He was looking at a player in the top six at New Orleans, and now he's looking at a player at 27, but he's scouted everybody."

Trading down to the second round would allow the Nuggets to draft a foreign player and stash him overseas, thereby not having to pay him. They also could draft a domestic player who would add depth to summer league and training camp rosters but could be cut before the season begins. Contracts of second-round picks aren't guaranteed.

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